Levels of biogenic amines in human body fluids have been used to diagnose pathological conditions. For example, elevated levels of certain biogenic amines in urine have been shown to indicate the presence or the likelihood of the presence of a cancer (see, for instance, Suh, J W, Lee, S H, Chung, B C, Park, J, Urinary Polyamine Evaluation for Effective Diagnosis of Various Cancers, Journal of Chromatography B, 1997, Vol. 688, Iss 2, pp. 179-186). Similarly, it has been shown that elevated levels of biogenic amines in vaginal discharge and fluids suggests the presence of different types of vaginal diseases. (see, for instance, C. S. Chen, R. Amsel, D. A. Eschenbach and K. K. Holmes, Biochemical Diagnosis of Vaginitis: Determination of Diamines in Vaginal Fluid, J. Infectious Disease 145 (1982), pp. 337-345).
Body fluids may include e.g. urine, blood, serum, saliva, vaginal discharge and fluids, etc. Further, samples in which the presence of biogenic amines may be determined may not be fluids, but, e.g., skin and tissues, sweat samples, etc. Even direct sniffing of skin or breath exhaled by a subject may provide information in this respect. This should be understood whenever body fluids are mentioned in this application.
Biochemical reactions and degradation processes of dead cells are accompanied by the breakdown of peptides and DNA leading to the formation of amines. One of the processes of particular interest is the breakdown of amino acids and the production of diamines and polyamines. For example, decarboxylation of histidine, ornithine, lysine, produces histamine, putrescine and cadaverine, respectively.
Ion Mobility Spectrometry (also, briefly, IMS) is an analytical method that has been applied to the determination of aliphatic and aromatic amines. See, for instance, Z. Karpas, Ion Mobility Spectrometry of Aliphatic and Aromatic Amines, Anal. Chem. 61 (1989), 684. An apparatus for carrying out this method—the Ion Mobility Spectrometer (IMS)—is used primarily for detection, identification and monitoring of trace amounts of gases and vapors. It is particularly suitable for detection of compounds that have high proton affinity and form stable positive ions, or for compounds that have a high electronegativity and readily form stable negative ions. IMS is discussed in J. I. Baumbach and G. A. Eiceman, Appl. Spectrosc. 1999, vol. 53, pp. 338A 355A.